Anglers From Five Western States in Top 10 of BASSMASTER Tourney.

KENNEWICK, Wash.--(BW SportsWire)--Oct. 2, 1998--The wind made it plenty miserable on the Columbia River for the second day of the $164,000 Washington BASSMASTER Western Invitational. In addition to making bait presentations extremely difficult, ocean-like conditions along some stretches of the river eliminated fishing areas altogether and compressed much of the field close to the Tri-Cities area and the weigh-in site at Columbia Park.

Gene Batey Jr. of Pasco, Washington (across the river from Columbia Park) made the wind work in his favor as he climbed from third to first place with a second limit in as many days weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces for a total of 23 pounds, 1 ounce.

Batey's was only one of 12 limits logged in. And, in what was thought to be an event that heavily favored local anglers, Batey was the only resident of the area in the top ten after two days.

"There's a lot of great fishermen here in Washington and to be honest, I don't know why there aren't more on the leader board," said Batey, who just last May won the grassroots B.A.S.S. Federation western division championship held on the very same stretch of river.

"Fishing the Federation events does help prepare you for these six-day (pro) events (three practice days, three tournament days). A lot of these local guys don't understand what a six-day tournament demands. They think they've got a lot of spots until they see the caliber of the fishermen in this tournament. These guys are good. And, anything that looks like it has a bass on it has been fished by 25 guys."

One key to his success, admits Batey, was refining his patterns subtle areas.

Levell Sneed of Portland , Oregon turned in second daily limit for 10 pounds, 11 ounces to rank second just 4 ounces behind Batey.

Aaron Martens of Castaic, California moved from 37th to third place with a 14 pound, 6 ounce limit for a 22 pound, 2 ounce total.

The event ends Saturday with the free 3 p.m. weigh-in at Columbia Park.

This is one of 19 qualifying events on the $6 million BASSMASTER Tournament Trail for the world championship BASS Masters Classic next summer.

Sponsors of the $164,000 BASSMASTER Washington Invitational are: Ranger Boats, RangerTrail Trailers, Mercury Outboards, Chevrolet Trucks, AC Delco Voyager Batteries, Kmart, Humminbird/Zercom Electronics, JERZEES ActiveWear, Wrangler Rugged Wear, Flowmaster Exhaust Systems, Plano Tackle Systems, MotorGuide Trolling Motors. Regional sponsor: Tri-City area Chamber of Commerce. -0-

PL   NAME              HOMETOWN          STATE  BASS/DEAD   LBS-OZS
 1.  Gene Batey, Jr.  Pasco            WA           10/0       23-01
 2.  Levell Sneed     Portland            OR           10/0       22-13
 3.  Aaron Martens    Castaic            CA           10/0       22-02
 4.  Gary E. Yexley   Wilsonville   OR            7/0       20-09
 4.  John Murray      Phoenix            AZ            9/0       20-09
 6.  Jason Blauvelt   Meridian            ID           10/0       20-08
 7.  Randy Best       Corona            CA           10/0       19-13
 8.  Wayne Hinrichs   Novato            CA            6/0       19-06
 9.  Sean Minderman   Post Falls    ID           10/0       18-06
10.  Dub LaShot       Walterville   OR            6/0       17-07

B.A.S.S. Web site: http://www bassmaster.com.

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